Remembering Christopher Mayer

Many thanks to Cheryl Dubuque for these great photos of the last appearance of actor Christopher "Chip" Mayer of "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "Santa Barbara," who died this past Saturday. These were taken at the Johnny Cash Music Festival in Ventura, California, in mid-June, just a month ago, when Mayer appeared with his "Dukes" cuz Byron ("Coy Duke") Cherry. Looks like they had a great time ...

In the second photo, you can see Chris' beautiful fiancee, Catherine Irvine (whom he referred to as his wife in our interview with him), along with Byron and his lovely wife Krista ... Our prayers go out to all of Chris' loved ones ...

(Now there's one of the few General Lee trunk lids that can ever hope to be "complete," featuring Mayer's fresh sig in silver just right of center.)

We just love all of the kind words we've seen posted about Mr. Mayer since the news broke of his death, on our own Facebook page, on other Facebook pages, and on numerous message boards and sites out there. He may have been a "replacement" Duke in the '80s, stepping in to a challenging situation and, in our minds at the time, representing the loss of our two beloved "Dukes" actors. We didn't like that very much, did we? But since then, we know that many "Dukes" fans have gained a whole new appreciation for Chris and Byron. They helped keep the show alive. They will always be a part of "Dukes" culture. And the fact that so many fans will miss out on meeting Chris is a true loss.

Photos courtesy of Cheryl Dubuque of Angel Hawk Productions; please do not copy without permission